Upgrading Trucks - Is It Worth It?

"Should I upgrade my employees' trucks, or not?"
In this guide I shall attempt to answer this question, using !!SCIENCE!!, common sense and a slide rule (because it sounds scientific).
Either this, or it will be a complete waste of time.
No promises.

0. Foreword

It's a bit of a niggling question, especially when we begin a new game, and the money is scarce in the first weeks of trucking - should I buy the cheapest possible truck for my employee driver(s) to use? What difference does it make if I later upgrade their rig to house a 560hp engine on a 6x4 chassis with a corresponding gearbox? Is it really worth the money?

I trawled the forums for a while to see if there is a definitive answer to the problem, alas! I only found some more or less unsubstantiated claims which only added to the confusion.

Fret not! Answers are coming.

1. Methodology

In our little experiment we shall be using an established company, with ample financial backing. A 5-slot garage, located in Magdeburg, will be allocated to drivers, chosen from amongst the least experienced drivers the market has to offer.

Our guinea pigs test drivers:



As you can see I aimed to have a level playing field by choosing all drivers with exactly the same starting skills - or lack thereof. The drivers will be given new trucks:

• two dirt cheap, stock Iveco Stralis trucks.
  
  
  
  
• two middle-range, but expensive, Scania R trucks.
  
  
  
  
• and one top-of-the-range Volvo FH.
  
  

...and no trailers will be harmed for the purpose of this experiment.

2. Test and Results

I have then, using and abusing the powers of fast travel, advanced the time by roughly three in-game months and recorded the results below.
Without further ado...

After 30 days:

After 90 days:

The results are... interesting.

Firstly - the myth that giving your drivers better trucks makes no difference can now be put to bed as debunked.
In the above example, the souped-up Scania R shows roughly 15-20% improvement in income / km and ~25% improvement on daily income over bare-bones Iveco Stralis.
The 8x4 Volvo FH, being suited mostly for superheavy hauling, fared much worse, gaining only ~10% improvement on profit / km and 15% improvement on daily income.
Thus, giving your employees a "better" truck definitely improves their ability to net you an increased profit.

Secondly - the type of truck has no influence on the proficiency levels and experience gains of the drivers.
In the above example, all drivers were left to their own devices and followed the "balanced" training regime. They all ended up at the same level, sporting the same skills and ratings.

3. Conclusion

So, is it really worth it?

From economical point of view, the answer is: no, not really.
Let's see.

Make	Income p/d	Initial cost	Time to pay off
Iveco	1 962,-	96 505,-	49 days
Scania	2 475,-	300 250,-	121 days
Volvo	2 255,-	392 830,-	174 days

Clearly, every extra Euro we spend on the truck will have to be earned back. The 20%-or-so increase in profit is dwarfed by 200%-plus increase in the initial cost of the truck and its upgrades.

In the long run, the upgraded truck will obviously fare better. Better drivers net bigger profits and so our % increase in potential will have that much larger impact. The same holds true when the initial cost of the truck is finally paid off. To begin with though, buying "better" trucks for your first and/or unskilled employees is a huge waste of money.

And to sum everything up, here's a picture of a slide rule, which, incidentally, had no part in creating this guide. Because, you know, we have calculators now.

4. Afterword and/or Disclaimer

Obviously the ever-shifting landscape of a dynamic freight market of ETS2 introduces so many variables that the results are to some degree random. All it takes is one failed job, and the average profit plummets. However, the results are clear cut and at least suggest a correlation between the quality of the truck and its profit potential.

If anything, I have at least managed to prove that a Scania R in this particular configuration and in this particular area nets better profit than an Iveco Stralis in this particular... you get the gist.

Just don't take it as written in stone.

Please feel free to voice your opinion and ask questions. And thank you for reading!
- Homiccus

[backedsplash]

How about doing the same experiment but using only one truck model but with different amount of upgrades? Would that make a difference on the results?

[LancelotFZ]

I did give same trucks to different level drivers, or different trucks to same level drivers in one city. And I used several cities for my test. So, I simply say that truck doesn't matter.
Trailers were put in a separated set of cities. I don't want to drive a 370HP with double. But AI drivers just don't bother. Can't tell much difference between 700HP and 370HP both with same trailer.

[Homiccus]

@Lud1crous: True. That was an oversight on my part, which had unnecessarily driven the prices up for the better rigs. Will do better next time.

[Homiccus]

I wholeheartedly agree that the driver's level IS what drives the profit and you will get a lot more mileage out of a seasoned veteran than out of a rookie. But in your case, giving different trucks to different level drivers created an unequal starting conditions, which will muddle up the final results. It's all about minimising discrepancies. For the same reason you should never use trailers in the experiment, since they may or may not be used by a driver in their job selection.
Thanks for the insights though, I am currently prepping for a more thorough test with map-wide garages and top-level drivers. Stay tuned.

[LancelotFZ]

I have done my test in 1.38 ETS2. Yes, it is hard to control the experiment. But I did relocate all drivers, sold and bought all trucks. About 280 drivers. Let them cool down for a few game days to set daily profit to 0. Some even left before starting the test. LOL

My conclusion is truck doesn't matter. Driver's level does.
I gave 3xx HP trucks to 10 rating drivers and 7xx HPs to low rating drivers in same location. Rating 10 drivers usually earn more than low rating drivers.
Trailers also affect earning. 10.0 driver, 3xx HP truck with a refrigerated double trailer usually earns most in a period. But I did not calculate break even days.

[Lud1crous]

i would buy the basic model and maybe uprate just the engine /gearbox and maybe the tires no need for fancy double bunks or paint.

[Homiccus]

@Saiph: I did make a snarky comment... but truth be told, I am open to suggestions. What do you propose, then? Five is the largest sample we can work on before introducing additional variables. Direct comparison of results from two or more "garages" is pointless. Theoretically, in order to obtain the least contaminated sample, you would need to have all garages in the world populated with equal drivers exactly at the same point in time, which is near impossible without cheating.
Advise?

[Saiph]

The sample size of only five drivers is simply not big enough to generate credible, statistically significant, or reliably repeatable results. This "experiment" will end up misleading people instead of helping them.

[FeteFatale]

Much of this is luck - one thing your data shows is that some drivers have better daily rates than their per km rates suggest, and some improve their per km & daily rates (comparing 30 day to 90 day data) much more than others.
On these figures Vasyl in one of the Ivecos is the driver I'd hire ... as long as he brings his truck with him :) 12% better daily/per km @ 30 days, 16% better @ 90 days, and 79% improvement over the two months ... the other four only averaged 44% improvement.

[Little Foot Brontosaurus]

Thank u, but I'm a billionaire in this game lol